From: Jim Witte (jswitte_at_bloomington.in.us)
Date: Tue Sep 07 2004 - 11:24:20 PDT
>> I think there is some confusion on this issue. Paul and Nicolas made
>> it extremely and very vocally clear that they not only do not intend
>> to make Newton ROMs publicly available, they will also not assist in
>> any way on methods to get the ROMs.
> I'm not sure why you're quoting me, but I didn't see any mention
> about distributing ROM images or ways to procure them.
I would think Paul and Nicolas meant not assisting in illegal ways to
obtain the ROM code, and possibly not assisting in way to extract the
ROM code from the Newton (because that could possibly make them
"contributory infringers", at least under silly US copyright law.. But
since Apple is a US company.. And since I believe they want to have a
WWNC at some point in USA [see Sklyerov (sp) case], this is of some
importance..
As for distributing Einstein in any form WITH the ROM file included -
definitely not. Perhaps there would be a tool to connect a Newton to a
Mac and download the ROM that way. All the information is already
there, in the Newton itself and publicly released development
information and tools. As Newton owners, Apple should be able to have
no claim over what *we* do with *our* hardware (especially since the
great majority of it is second-hand [first-sale doctrine should apply]
- although the Newton EULA probably says otherwise -
reverse-engineering clauses are standard in these pesky legal beasts.
But emulators exist ALL over the place (Apple II, Atari, probably Amiga
and C64 - I haven't looked around - go to www.emulation.net. And no,
don't suggest that Einstein be put there..). So there is precedent.
The project may have to prove this point in court, or negotiation with
Apple since this proof-of-concept has been made would be cheaper
(though licensing the OS might not be).
It's their project, they can do what they see fit with it.
Jim
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